Hydraulic ram



Jan. 19, 194 3. A. HSFRANCFORT 2,309,058

HYDRAULIC RAM Filed Dec. 1, 1941 Patented Jan. 19, 1943 HYDRAULIC RAM Alfred H. Francfort, Middle Haddam, Conn., as-

signor of one-half to Arthur B. Ca'lef, Middle Haddam, Conn.

Application December 1, 1941, Serial No. 421,146

5 Claims.

The present invention relates to hydraulic rams and more particularly to a ram wherein the flow of water is periodically directed into the air chamber through a connector or impulse valve intermittently operated by the flow of water, and is a continuation-in-part of application, Serial No. 365,626, filed November 14, 1940.

So far as applicant is aware, the only ram of the above-indicated type which has heretofore been suggested is that shown in the Italian Patent N0. 177 of 1869. However, due to the construction of the impulse valve or connector shown in that patent, a ram constructed in accordance with, the showing therein would be inoperative due to the fact that the valve is of cylindrical type and is slidably mounted in a cylinder without sufficient area being provided to lift the valve upon the water coming in contact therewith. Apparently in an effort to overcome this objectionable feature the Italian patent suggests the use of a Venturi tube connected to the intake of the ram in order to obtain suflicient pressure to lift the valve. The use of a Venturi tube not only increases the cost of the ram, but, in addition, necessitates the construction of a ram for each set of conditions in order to obtain the velocities for which the Venturi tube was designed. Because of this, it would be necessary to design each individual ram to meet the particular set of conditions at the point of installation.

Assuming, however, that the ram could be made operative in the sense that the impulse valve could be moved from open to closed position, it would further be subjected to the fault that upon the kickback the valve would fall by gravity between its closed and open positions without any means whatsoever to cushion the shock thereof, and thus in a short time the valve, if not the entire ram, due to this constant hammering would be rendered inoperative. Moreover, as the valve is slidably mounted in a cylinder, it necessitates the accurate manufacture of these parts, which, even when accurately manufactured, offer considerable frictional resistance to movement and greatly increase the wear.

Applicant is also aware of the fact that rams have been shown wherein the impulse valve is operated by a flow of water directly contacting the lower face thereof and wherein the impulse valve is so constructed that there is substantially no frictional resistance offered to the lifting of the valve. Such a type of ram is shown in applicants United States Patent No. 845,402 issued in 1907. However, this type of ram was also subjected to the faults of the ram shown in'the Italian patent in that upon the valve moving from closed to open position it would drop by gravity, subjecting the entire structure to considerable shock. In view of this, it was found necessary to reconstruct the rams of the type shown in said applicants patent to include mechanical means for cushioning the valve upon its movement from closed to open position. This could be accomplished in rams of the type shown in applicants patent, but it could not be accomplished in rams of the type shown in the above-noted Italian patent, for, due to the arrangement of the ram of the latter patent, mechanical means could not be fitted between the air chamber and the valve.

The object of the present invention is to provide a ram of the type wherein the air chamber and impulse valve or connector are arranged in vertical alignment and wherein the impulse valve always operates in a liquid medium, which medium provides cushioning means for the valve.

A still further object is to provide a ram of the aforementioned type wherein the valve is so suspended as to have substantially no frictional contact with any of the other parts of the ram, thus obtaining free and easy operation and also permitting ready adjustment of the stroke of the valve.

A still further object is to provide a ram of the above-indicated type which is extremely simple and inexpensive to manufacture in that there is little or no machining of the parts and which is particularly eficient in the results obtained in that the wastage of water is reduced to a minimum.

Other objects will be in part obvious and in part pointed out more in detail hereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combination of elements, and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified in the construction hereafter set forth and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawing:

Figure 1 is a side View of a ram embodying the invention herein;

Fig. 2 is a top view of the ram shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a vertical section taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2 and with the connector or impulse valve in open position;

Fig. 4 is a view taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3; and

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 3 with the impulse valve or connector in closed position.

Referring to the drawing, the ram comprises generally an air chamber A vertically spaced from a base 13 in which there is located a cylindrical impact chamber C connecting to a drive pipe inlet D, and a connector E for intermittently interconnecting the impact chamber C with the air chamber A.

More specifically, the air chamber A comprises a dome-shaped member IE) secured to a. horizontal base plate I2 in any suitable manner, such as by the bolts 14. Centrally of the base plate there is provided an inlet I6 for the admission of water and air into the air chamber. Concentric with inlet I and positioned in the air chamber is a valve seat 22 adapted to cooperate with an automatically operated opening and closing inlet valve 8. The valve I8 is in the shape of a disk and may be made of any suitable flexible material secured in position by a stud extending through an opening in the center of the valve and threaded into a crossbar 23 carried by the valve seat 22. To reduce wear on the valve l8, there may be positioned between the head of the stud 28 and the valve a concave member 24, thereby providing a smooth surface against which the valve will contact when flexed to open position. To complete the air chamber, there is further provided a discharge opening 26 located in the base plate [2 and into which there is connected a discharge pipe 23, which pipe will lead to the point at which the water is to be delivered.

Referring now to the base B, it comprises a casting 30 and a top plate 36 secured to the casting as by studs 46; these studs also carrying on their upper ends the base plate l2 of the air chamber A, thus vertically spacing the latter above the base B. The casting 36 further includes an enlarged cylindrical portion 33 arranged in axial alignment with the air chamber inlet IS, which portion, together with the top plate, forms the cylindrical impact chamber C. As indicated, the top plate 36 has a central opening constituting a discharge outlet 38 from the impact chamber, and the base of the chamber has an inlet opening 3%; these openings being arranged in axial alignment with the air chamber opening l6. Beneath the impact chamber C the casting 36 is formed to provide the drive pipe inlet D which includes a portion 32 which, in effect, is substantially a continuation of the drive pipe, and a baffle for directing the flow of the water upwardly and into the impact chamber. With this construction, it will be seen that the inlet opening 39 of the impact chamber connects to the drive pipe at a point of greatest foot fall, for reasons hereinafter made apparent.

Referring now to the connector E, it comprises a tubular member 42 of slightly smaller diameter than the impact chamber outlet 38, and is of such length that when its upper end engages the air chamber base plate its lower end projects into the impact chamber. The lower end of the member 42 further carries a flange 4B of greater diameter than both the inlet and outlet of the impact chamber 33; this flange having its upper face covered with any suitable type of packing material to provide a valve face 48 adapted to engage the under face of the top plate 36, which face functions as a valve seat 50. At its upper end the tubular member terminates in a valve face 4-: adapted to close on a suitable valve seat 45 also formed of a suitable packing material provided in the base plate 12 of the air chamber concentrically with the opening l6.

With this construction, when the upper valve face 44 engages the valve seat 45, the lower valve face 48 engaes the valve seat 50, thus simultaneously closing the outlet 38 from the impact chamber and directly connecting the air chamber inlet It to the impact chamber. It will also be noted that inasmuch as the valve face 43 and valve seat 55 are made from material which has a certain degree of resiliency, accurate machining of the cooperating engaging parts is not required as resilient material will, under pressure, provide a water-tight seal,

In order to assure proper alignment of the connector D with the air chamber inlet, the connector carries a guide plate 52 secured to the tubular member 42 intermediate of the air chamber and the base. The guide plate 52 includes diametrically opposed arms 53, each of which is provided with a vertical opening 54 for slidably mounting the guide plate on a pair of studs 56 depending from the base plate of the air chamber. The studs 55 are threaded at their lower end, whereby the securing nuts 51 may be raised or lowered, thereby lengthening or shortening the stroke of the connector.

With the ram so constructed, upon its being connected to a source of water supply the water will initially fill the impact chamber C and the connector E and overflow both through the impact chamber outlet 38 and out of the top of the connector. As the velocity of the water increases, the connector will be moved towards closed position. Inasmuch as the connector is freely suspended, there is no friction to be overcome, thus greatly reducing the force required to move the connector to closed position. As the connector rises, the clearance between the valve face 48 and seat 50 and valve face 44 and seat will be re duced, but until actual contact is made, water will flow between the respective valve faces and seats, thus cushioning them and reducing the shock occurring upon the closing of the connector.

When the connector has reached closed position, the water flowing through the connector will then force open the valve i8 (see Fig. 5) and the water will flow directly into the air chamber. This flow will continue until the air in the chamber is compressed to a point where it equalizes the footfall, whereupon the flow will be suddenly checked and a reaction or kickback will result.

When the water is driven back by the kick back, the valve I 8 will automatically close, and likewise the force acting to maintain the connector closed will be released. When this force is released, the connector will be free to drop to open position. However, in the ram disclosed, the lower end of the connector will always move through a liquid medium which acts as a cushion, thus assuring a smooth and easy operation and eliminating the necessity of the provision of any mechanical parts for absorbing the shock resulting from the falling of the valve.

To obtain the aforeindicated cushioning eifect, it is necessary that the level of the water in the impact chamber always be maintained so that the lower end of the connector always moves through a liquid medium. This result is obtained in the present construction by corelating the size of the impact chamber, drive pipe, and connector whereby any water driven from the impact chamber into the drive pipe inlet will be substantially equalized by water driven from the connector into the impact chamber. To obtain this, the connector is made of such size that when a kickback occurs the water contained in the connector will be driven into the impact chamber and thus replenish anywater driven from the impact chamber into the drive pipe." However, to assure the maintaining of a high enough level, the impact chamber is made of such size that the fall of the level of water within the impact chamber upon the displacement of any given volume therein will be substantially less than the fall within the drive pipe and connector upon the displacement of an equivalent volume.

To accomplish the foregoing, the diameters of the drive pipe and of the connectorD are made substantially equivalent, whereas the diameter of the impact chamber is at least one and onehalf times that of the drive pipe. In other words, the diameters of the drive pipe, connector, and impact chamber will bear a ratio ofsubstantially 111:1.5. Obviously, inasmuch as the area of a circle increases as the square of the radius, it will be seen that the capacity of the impact chamber in any given plane will be substantially greater than that of either the drive pipe or the connector in any given plane.

For example, in actual practice a ram which has been built to: be used with a twelve inch drive pipe has an impact chamber of twenty and onequarter inches, whereas the connector has a ten inch diameter. The maximum stroke of this type of ram is approximately one-half of the drive pipe diameter-namely, six inches. Therefore, the depth of the impact chamber must be slightly greater than this six inches in order to prevent the flange 46 from seating on the bottom of the impact chamber when the connector is in lowest position. The overall length of the connector is approximately twelve inches, whereby when a maximum stroke is utilized, six inches of the connector will be immersed at the bottom of the stroke.

With a ram utilizing a twelve inch drive pipe, under actual operating conditions the kickback or drop in water is found to be approximately four inches. As a result, when the water is driven back four inches within the drive pipe inlet, the fall of water within the impact chamber will only be about one-quarter as much, or one inch. However, as the water entering the impact cham- As many changes could be made in the'above construction and'many apparently widely dififerent embodiments of this invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the language used in the following claims is intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter her from the connector equalizes that leaving the impact chamber and entering the drive pipe, the

impact chamber will at all times remain substantially filled, whereby the lower end of the impact valve or connector will operate in a liquid medium. In this way, the connector in effect floats between open and closed positions, and a relatively small force is required to operate it. Moreover, inasmuch as the drive pipe connects to the impact chamber inlet at the point of maximum fall of the drive pipe, there is no head of water to be overcome following the reaction of the kickback, and rapid flooding of the impact chamber and connector will almost instantaneously follow.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the ram operates with maximum efliciency and with substantially little loss of water. Moreover, inasmuch as the impact valve operates in a liquid medium, the ram is subjected to substantially no shock either on its closing or opening movements.

It will also be seen that inasmuch as the means for suspending the impact valve are located between the air chamber and the base of the ram, the stroke of the connector may be readily changed to compensate for its speed of operation, which compensation may be necessary due to changes in conditions following the installation of the ram.

of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

I claim as my invention:

1. A hydraulic ram of the character described including an air chamber having a normally closed inlet, an impact chamber spaced beneath said air chamber and having an inlet and an outlet arranged in vertical alignment with the air chamber inlet, a connector including a tubular portion extending through said outlet and having a valve seat on its lower end positioned in said impact chamber, said connector being movable by water flowing through said impact chamber to a position where it connects said air chamber to said impact chamber and closes said impact chamber outlet, the diameter of said impact chamber being substantially greater than said connector tubular portion, and the diameter of said impact chamber inlet being substantially the same as said tubular portion, whereby upon a reaction following the closing of the connector the water driven from the connector into the impact chamber will substantially equalize the water driven from the impact chamber through said impact chamber outlet.

2. A hydraulic ram of the character described including an air chamber having a normally closed inlet, an impact chamber spaced beneath the air chamber and having an inlet and an outlet arranged in vertical alignment with the air chamber inlet, a tubular connector for intermittently connecting said impact chamber to said air chamber, means between said air chamber and impact chamber for suspending said tubular connector whereby the lower end of said connector is positioned within that impact chamber, avalve portion carried on the lower end of said tubular connector, said tubular connector being so suspended that it does not have any contact with said impact chamber except when in connecting position when said valve face closes said impact chamber outlet, 2. drive pipe inlet connected to said impact chamber inlet, said drive pipe inlet being of substantially lesser diameter than said impact chamber.

3. A hydraulic ram of the character described including an air chamber having a normally closed inlet, an impact chamber spaced beneath said air chamber, a tubular connector for intermittently connecting the impact chamber to the air chamber, means positioned between said air chamber and impact chamber for slidably supporting said tubular connector with its lower end located in the impact chamber, a drive pipe inlet connected to the base of said impact chamher, the respective diameters of said tubular connector, drive pipe inlet, and impact chamber being substantially in the ratio of 1:1:1.5 and the depth of said impact chamber being greater than the maximum stroke of said connector.

4. A hydraulic ram of the character described including an air chamber having a normally closed inlet, an impact chamber spaced beneath said air chamber and having an inlet and an outlet, a slidable connector for connecting said impact chamber to said air chamber and closing said impact chamber outlet, said connector having its lower end arranged in said impact chamber and its upper end extending through the outlet and slidably supported exterior of the air chamber, a. drive pipe inlet connected to the inlet of said impact chamber, said impact chamber diameter being substantially greater than said drive pipe inlet diameter whereby upon a fall of water following a kickback the drop of level within the impact chamber will vary as the square of the drop within the drive pipe inlet.

5. A hydraulic ram including an air chamber having an inlet opening, an automatically actuating opening and closing valve to permit entrance of liquid and airthru said opening and to prevent outflow therefrom, an outlet for free discharge form said chamber, an impact chamber located underneath said opening and having an inlet for gravity flow of liquid thereto and an outlet opening in line with the opening to said air chamber, an automatically actuated movable connector to control flow of liquid from said impact chamber thru said outlet opening, said connector including a flange located in the impact chamber and a tubular extension extending upwardly from said flange with its end opposite said flange adapted to make contact with the under side of said air chamber in alignment with the air chamber inlet, a guide plate secured to said extension exterior of the impact chamber, guide rods projecting from the under side of said air chamber and thru said guide plate, and means for adjusting the movement of the guide plate on the guide rods to vary the movement of the connector.

ALFRED H. FRANCFORT. 

